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Hilliard opens things back up

Klein (Texas) Oak linebacker A.J. Hilliard committed to Arizona in early August but much has changed with the Wildcat program since then. Head coach Mike Stoops was recently fired, causing the Houston-area prospect to re-evaluate his options.
After taking some time to think about things, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Hilliard has decided to open his recruitment back up and no longer is an Arizona pledge.
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"I'm open right now," Hilliard said on Tuesday evening. "I think that's pretty understandable since the head coach got fired. I wouldn't consider myself committed at all at this point."
Since Stoops was let go quite a few other schools have started recruiting Hilliard again.
"There have been a lot of schools coming at me really hard since coach Stoops was fired," he said. "I just got off the phone with three of them. I talked to Boise State. They were selling pretty hard. I also talked to Shannon Dawson from West Virginia. He is trying to get me there for a visit."
A Big 12 program recently became the newest program to offer the three-star prospect.
"Baylor offered me last week," Hilliard said. "The defensive coordinator came down and talked to my head coach. I got a chance to talk to him later. He was talking about how they were an upcoming team and all that stuff and he told me they were offering me then."
The Bears have worked their way in Hilliard's top group of schools.
"I'm looking at Baylor, West Virginia, Boise State and TCU the hardest," he said.
All but TCU have offered but Hilliard believes that one will come soon as well.
"They are really selective about what they say," he said of the Horned Frogs. "Coach (Eddie) Williamson, my recruiting coach, he and coach (Tony) Tademy, the linebacker coach, they both tell me I'm a great player and all that stuff. They said, 'We want you to come on a visit to one of their games and coach (Gary) Patterson has some good news for you.' They basically want coach Patterson to offer me when I get there.
"I'm probably going to go up there for their next home game. The next home game is Nov. 19. I'm probably going to that one unless it conflicts with my playoff game."
Hilliard has long listed TCU as his top school and admits an offer would be hard to turn down.
"After TCU offers me I'm not sure how long I'm going to stay on the market," he said.
Hilliard is ranked as the No. 19 inside linebacker in the country and the No. 68 overall prospect in the state of Texas.
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